Do you work specifically with Stanford Hospital and medical center staff?

Yes, I specialize in treating healthcare professionals from Stanford Hospital, Stanford Medical Center, Lucile Packard Children's Hospital, El Camino Health, Sutter Health Palo Alto, and medical practices along Sand Hill Road. I understand the unique pressures of academic medicine, research demands, and Silicon Valley's healthcare culture.

What makes Palo Alto and Stanford medicine uniquely stressful?

Stanford medicine combines extreme clinical excellence expectations with research pressure ('publish or perish'), teaching responsibilities, and serving Silicon Valley's demanding patient population. You're treating tech executives who Google everything, international patients seeking miracles, and working alongside Nobel laureates. The imposter syndrome and perfectionism are intense.

How do you protect privacy in Palo Alto's small medical community?

All sessions are conducted virtually, ensuring complete privacy. You won't risk running into colleagues at Town & Country Village or patients at Stanford Shopping Center. Your therapy remains entirely confidential and separate from your professional network in the Peninsula medical community.

What types of trauma do Stanford medical professionals experience?

Beyond patient care trauma, Stanford providers face imposter syndrome among world-renowned colleagues, research grant pressure, teaching failures that feel personal, moral injury from insurance limitations, second victim syndrome after adverse events, and the stress of medical innovation and AI integration. The pressure to maintain Stanford's reputation adds another layer.

Why don't traditional therapy approaches work for Stanford medicine trauma?

Stanford medicine is highly cerebral - you're trained to intellectualize everything. But trauma lives in your nervous system, not your prefrontal cortex. That's why I use body-based approaches like EMDR, Brainspotting, ART, and Somatic Therapy that heal trauma where it's actually stored - in your brain stem, vagus nerve, and autonomic nervous system.

How quickly can therapy help with medical professional burnout?

I offer 4-hour intensive sessions for medical professionals who want significant progress quickly. Using approaches like ART (which can resolve traumatic imagery in 1-5 sessions) and EMDR, many healthcare workers experience meaningful relief faster than with traditional weekly talk therapy that can take months or years.

Palo Alto Medical Worker Trauma Therapy

Serving Palo Alto, Menlo Park, Mountain View, Los Altos

Trauma Therapy for Stanford Healthcare Professionals & All Peninsula Medical Providers

You trained at one of the world's most prestigious medical institutions. You're surrounded by Nobel laureates, breakthrough researchers, and medical innovations that make headlines. But behind the Stanford Medicine white coat, you're struggling with the weight of perfection, moral injury from system and insurance constraints, and the hidden trauma of being a second victim when outcomes are tragic.

In the Silicon Valley medical culture, you're not just expected to save lives; you're expected to innovate, publish, present, and maintain the Stanford standard of excellence. When a patient outcome isn't perfect, it's not just a loss; it feels like a failure of your entire training.

Learn more about my approach to trauma therapy for medical providers here.

The Pressure of Peninsula Healthcare

Working at Stanford Hospital, El Camino Health, Sutter Health, Lucile Packard Children’s, or the medical practices along Sand Hill Road means you're treating tech executives who Google their symptoms, venture capitalists who expect concierge-level care, and families who flew in from other countries specifically for your expertise.

You performed a 12-hour surgery on a child whose parents raised $2 million for the procedure. The pressure was immense. Even though the surgery went well, you can't stop replaying every moment, wondering if you could have done something better.

You're seeing patients at the Stanford Cancer Center, delivering devastating diagnoses to patients. They look at you expecting you to save their lives. When you can't offer that miracle, their disappointment haunts you.

Academic Medicine

At Stanford, you're not just a clinician; you're a researcher, educator, and innovator. The "publish or perish" pressure compounds your clinical stress:

Your research was questioned during grand rounds, and now you doubt every clinical decision
A resident made an error under your supervision, and you carry both the patient outcome and the teaching failure
Your grant wasn't renewed, threatening both your research and your team’s livelihoods
You're competing with colleagues who seem to effortlessly balance clinical excellence with groundbreaking research

Why Peninsula Healthcare Workers Choose Specialized Trauma Therapy

The Palo Alto medical community is small and interconnected. You see your colleagues at Town & Country Village, your patients at Stanford Shopping Center, and everyone knows everyone. Traditional therapy feels risky, because what if your therapist knows your department chair?

I offer virtual trauma therapy for healthcare workers that offers the discretion and privacy you need. You can process your experiences without worrying about running into someone you know in Los Altos or Menlo Park.

Specific Support for Stanford Medicine Trauma

Your trauma isn't just from patient care. It's also from the larger Stanford medical system:

Imposter syndrome among world-renowned colleagues
Research pressure while managing clinical loads
Teaching failures that feel like personal defeats
Technology integration stress as medicine becomes increasingly AI-driven
Venture capital pressure if you're involved in medical startups
Moral injury from insurance limitations on patient care
Second victim syndrome after adverse events

What Trauma Recovery Looks Like for Stanford Medicine Professionals and Peninsula Healthcare Workers

You finish rounds at Stanford Hospital and leave work at work. Walking through University Avenue for dinner, you're present with your family instead of mentally reviewing cases.
A complex surgery at Lucile Packard reminds you of one that went wrong last year. But instead of spiraling, your nervous system stays steady. You notice the memory, acknowledge it, and stay focused on your current patient. The past no longer hijacks the present.
Your colleague publishes another breakthrough study in JAMA. Instead of imposter syndrome, you feel genuinely happy for them. Your nervous system isn't constantly comparing and finding you lacking.
You're teaching residents and one makes a critical error you catch just in time. Your body doesn't flood with cortisol for hours afterward. You provide feedback calmly, knowing near-misses are part of medicine, not personal failures.
You savor and enjoy the quality of life Palo Alto, Mountain View, and surrounding areas offer.

The Nervous System Approaches I Use Work at Trauma’s Root

Stanford medicine is cerebral: you're trained to think your way through everything. But trauma doesn't live in the prefrontal cortex you've spent decades developing. It's stored in your brain stem, your vagus nerve, your somatic nervous system.

That's why talking to therapists about your feelings hasn't helped. You can intellectually understand that patient deaths aren't your fault, but your body still reacts like you're under threat when you enter the hospital.

This is why I've trained extensively in nervous system approaches that heal trauma at the root:

EMDR to reprocess traumatic memories without retraumatization
Brainspotting to locate and release trauma from your subcortical brain
ART to change traumatic imagery in just a few sessions
Somatic Therapy to help your body release what it's been holding
IFS to heal the internal conflicts healthcare creates
CPT to address the moral injury unique to medical professionals

Healing your nervous system lets you stay in the career you worked so hard for without sacrificing your mental health, relationships, or sense of self.

Your healing doesn't require rehashing every trauma or talking for months about your childhood. We work directly with your nervous system using proven, efficient methods that create real change.

Investment in Your Career Longevity

You've invested hundreds of thousands in your medical education. Therapy is an investment that ensures you can actually sustain and enjoy the career you've built in one of the world's most competitive medical markets.

I offer 50-minute sessions, 90-minute sessions, and 4-hour intensive sessions for people who want to make significant progress quickly.

Session fees:

50-minute session: $300
90-minute session: $450
4-hour intensive: $1,200

I don't take insurance, but I can provide a Superbill (documentation for out-of-network reimbursement) if your insurance plan offers it. Payment is due at the time of scheduling, and future sessions are billed 24 hours in advance.

All sessions are virtual/online only. I offer telehealth for medical professionals throughout California. Early morning and weekend appointments are available because I understand your schedule doesn't look like a typical 9-to-5.

I have immediate openings for Peninsula healthcare workers.

Schedule a Session or Contact Me

Meet Summer

I'm a Licensed Clinical Social Worker with over a decade of experience, including years working in healthcare settings.

I specialize in trauma for medical professionals. I'm trained in EMDR, ART, Brainspotting, Somatic Therapy, Internal Family Systems, and CPT because I've seen these approaches create real relief for healthcare workers when traditional talk therapy hasn't been enough.

I work with physicians, nurses, physical therapists, occupational therapists, speech therapists, psychotherapists, social workers, and other medical professionals who need direct, effective treatment that works with their schedule and addresses trauma at the nervous system level.

I offer telehealth in California and Idaho. Early morning and weekend appointments are available because I understand your schedule doesn't look like a typical 9-to-5.

More about Summer